Railway fare ticket



Patented May 15, 19.23;

H E i i s CLARENCE W. HEATH, 0F SAND SPRINGS, OKLAHOMA.

RAILWAY FARE TICKET.

Application filed June 15, 1922. Serial No. 568,641.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CLARENCE V. HEATH, a citizen of the'United States, and residing in the city of Sand Springs, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented or discovered the new, useful, and Improved Railway Fare Tickets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in a new and improved fare-ticket system for passenger railway service.

\Vhile my invention is particularly intended to be applied to railways operated on the zone plan, it is also advantageously applicable to railways operated on the conventional station plan.

Generally speaking my invention consists of a series of packs or sets of tickets, one series of packs being preferably provided for traffic in one direction and a second series for tr'aflic in the other direction. Each series consists of a number of packs of tickets, preferably one less than the'number of the zones into which the railway is divided, one set being provided .for each zone except, preferably, for the first zone in the direction of travel for which the series isto be used. I v i The tickets for each individual zone have printed across their upper portion data showing that the destination of the passage for which the tickets are issued is in that particular zone, and underneath the same are printed .in a vertical column the designationsof the otherzones precedingthe said destination zone in the direction of travel, the zones being arranged in sequence of order'of occurrence in the direction of travel, and horizontally 'alined with the designation of each zone in said column is printed the amount of fare between the stations in said zones and the destination zone indicated at the top of the ticket. The passenger when he embarks is asked by the conductor or other trainman in what zone he will disemsouthbound, and Fig. 3 illustrates a ticket as issued to a northbound passenger embarking 111' the second zone and to disembark in the sixth zone.

The following is a detailed description ofthe drawings, reference Figs. 1 and 3.

A series of packs or sets of tickets are provided, there being one pack for eachzone except, preferably, for the first zone in the direction of travel. I

Thus in Fig. 1 thezones are seven in number and are indicatedas A,,B, G, D E, F and G. A pack or set of tickets lis provided for zone B; apack of tickets 2 for zone C; a pack of tickets?) for zone D; a pack of tickets 4 for .zone E; a pack of tickets 5 for zone F, and a pack of tickets '6 for zone Gr. Each pack consists of a suppiy of tickets which are eX- act duplicates of each other and have printed across their upper portionv data indicating that they are issued for a passage ending within their particular zone. Thus the tickets 1 have printed across their upper portion To Zone B indicating that the ticket is for issue to a passenger intending to disbeing first had. to

embark in zone B. Thus zone B is the destination zone for the tickets-1.

Beneath theline indicating the destination zone, the designation of the other. zones )receding the destination zone are printed in a vertical column, their descending sequence being in the order of their occurrence in the direction of, travel. Thus in the case of the ticketsl, the designation of zone A,which precedes zone Bis printed below the destination zone. 'In the case'o-f tickets 6 issued for disembarkation within zone G supposed to be the last zone in the direction ofv travel, the designationsof all the other zones are printed in order in a vertical column below the destination zone, beginning with the first zone A.

The conductor is This column I may term the fEnibarkaf tion column. Directly opposite, or horizontally alined with the designation of each zone in the embarkation column is printed the fare from stations in said zone to stations in the disenibarkation zone indicated at the top. of the ticket. Thus these fare amounts diminish downwardly.

hen a passenger embarks, the conductor or other trainman after learning in what zone the passenger intends to disembark, takes from a suitable box or container, not wn, and in which the ticket may be stored for convenient handling, a ticket designating at the top the zone within which the passenger is to disembark and tears or cuts the ticket across directly under the designation and fare amount of the zone in which the passenger embarks. Thus, ref rring to Fig. 3, a passengr-n' is supposed to embark in zone B and to announce to the conductor that he wishes to disembark in, zone F. In such case the conductor takes one of the tickets 5 and tears oi? the lower portion of the same directly under the printed matter l 20, and hands the upper portion of the ticket to the passenger. Thus the passenger receives a ticket which indicates at the top the destination zone, and at the bottom the embarkation zone and the amount of fare to be paid. When the passenger reaches his destination, he passes out, he drops the proper fare into the fare box and hands the ticket to the conductor who is thus able to check the trans action. The conductor then turns the ticket in at the end of his run so that the auditor may conveniently check the cash turned in at the same time.

It is evident that a dishonest passenger could not retear or alter the ticket he receives to show a passage calling for a less tare. For instance, if the passenger retear the ticket shown in Fig. 3 to indicate a passage from zone A, instead of zone B, to zone F. he would be required to pay twentyfive cents instead of twenty cents. Like wise the conductor is not able to retear tickets to falsify his returns to his own advantage as the retorn tickets would call for more money than that paid by the passengers.

In Fig. 2 I show the tickets 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 arranged for reverse travel on the line beginning with zone G.

It will be noticed that in Fig. l 1 provide no tickets for the first zone A, and like wise in Fig. 2 no tickets are provided for the first zone G. This is due to the fact that within a zone the minimum fare, such as five cents, is usually charged, the same minimum fare being also charged for travel between two points in adjacent zones, so that when a passenger on entering informs the conductor that he will disembark with in the same zone, the conductor issues to him a ticket showing a passage to the next acent zone and which indicates the same minimum fare. This saves printing a special supply oi tickets for travel within a single zone, but if desired such supply may be provided.

The upper portion of the tickets may be provided with suitable explanations or directions to the passengers.

Although especially intended for use in connection with zoned railways, it is evident that my invention is equally applicable to railways organized on the old fashioned station system, the names or designation of the stations being substituted on the tickets for the zones.

What I desire to claim is 1. A fare-ticket system for railways comprised of a set of tickets for each destination locality having the proper destination locality printed on the upper portion thereof, and below said destination the names of the departure localities preceding the particular destination in the direction of travel, the indicia of said departure localities being arranged in a vertical column int-he order of their occurrence in the direction of travel and the proper amount of fare between each of said departure localities and the said destination being printed horizontally opposite each departure locality whereby, when the ticket is issued the proper destination appears at the top, and by tearing off the lower part of the ticket immediately below the indicia of the departure locality where the passenger embarked, the last line on the ticket will show the departure locality and the fare to be paid.

2. A fare-ticket system for railways comprising a set of tickets for each destination locality, the tickets in each set having printed across its upper portion indicia of the particular destination, for which said set of tickets is to be used, and the tickets below said indicia of destination being pro vided with a vertical column containing the indicia of the localities preceding in the direction of travel the indicated destination, said last named indicia being arranged in descending sequence in their order of occurrence in the direction of travel, and said ticket being further provided with a vertical column of fare amounts, the amount of fare between each departure locality and the destination indicated at the top o1 the ticket bein set out in horizontal alinement with the corresponding departure locality, so that when the ticket is handed to a passenger with the lower portion detached immediately below the indicia of the locality whereat he embarks, the top of the ticket indicates where he is to disembark while the bottom of the ticket indicates where he embarked and the amount of fare which he is to pay.

3. A railway fare-ticket having printed across its upper portion the indicia of the destination for which it is to be issued, and below the same a vertical column of indicia of the localities on said railway preceding in the direction of travel the indicated destination, said last mentioned localities being arranged in descending sequence in their order of occurrence in the direction oftravel, so that when the ticket is handed to a passenger with the lower portion detached immediately below the indicia showing where he embarked, the top of the ticket will show where the passenger will disembark and the bottom of the ticket will show where he embarked. I

4. A railway fare-ticket having printed across its upper portion the indicia of the destination for which it is to be issued, and below the same a vertical column of indicia of the localities on said railway preceding in the direction of travelthe' indicated destination, said last mentioned localities being arranged in descending sequence in their order of occurrence in the direction of travel, and said ticket being further provided with a vertical column of fare amounts, the amount of fare between each departure locality and the destination indicated at the top of theticket being set out in horizontal alinement with the corresponding departure locality, so that when the ticket is handed to a passenger with the lower portion detached immediately below the. indicia of the locality whereat he embarks, the top of the ticket indicates where he is to disembark, while the bottom of the ticket indicates where he embarked and the amount of fare which he is to pay. I v

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa., this 10th day of June, 1922. I

CLARENCE W. HEATH. 

